The Shadow Reacts to the Mesherle Verdict Reaction
Like many of you, The Shadow watched the reaction in Oakland, California hours after a jury of eight women and four men convicted Johannes Mehserle of Involuntary Manslaughter in the shooting death of Oscar Grant on January 1, 2009. The Shadow has not issued an opinion on the circumstances of the case and will not do so.
However, The Shadow did have a problem with the reaction to the verdict, which was delivered last Thursday. While several groups, public officials and this blog urged people to protest peacefully in the aftermath of the verdict....unfortunately, that did not happen.
Well, let us rephrase that. The initial reaction was peaceful. And we are thankful for that. Unfortunately, around 9:00 p.m., a group of professional protesters and troublemakers decided to rouse the people who were still in downtown Oakland and decided to riot in the area. A Foot Locker store as looted as well as other businesses (an official count listed 100 businesses were affected) as well.
It was then revealed that -- of the 78 people who were arrested that night -- 75 percent of them did not live in the city of Oakland.
Which leads The Shadow to ask -- WHY DID YOU COME HERE IF YOU HAD NOT INTEREST IN THIS CASE AND YOU DID NOT LIVE IN OAKLAND?
Oakland has a bad enough reputation without the violence and riots that occurred that night. It is shameful and embarrassing! But -- to their credit -- some of the looters did return some of the items that were looted -- but The Shadow would not be surprised if these people actuallhy lived in Oakland.
Mehserle is due to be sentenced later this Summer (the original date was August 6, but that has been postponed at the request of Mehserle's attorneys). This will be another period that riots could happen in Oakland.....if the sentence that the judge does not hand down is not satisfactory to the African-American community (Mehserle is facing a maximum sentence of 14 years). It is important that the Oakland community come together to prevent these outsiders from coming in and causing more trouble.
The Shadow will not offer an opinion on the verdict. But what he will say is that he was very disappointed with the reaction that occurred in the late night hours in Oakland. Hopefully, this can be avoided in the future and the community can come together for the common good.
Good night and good luck.
However, The Shadow did have a problem with the reaction to the verdict, which was delivered last Thursday. While several groups, public officials and this blog urged people to protest peacefully in the aftermath of the verdict....unfortunately, that did not happen.
Well, let us rephrase that. The initial reaction was peaceful. And we are thankful for that. Unfortunately, around 9:00 p.m., a group of professional protesters and troublemakers decided to rouse the people who were still in downtown Oakland and decided to riot in the area. A Foot Locker store as looted as well as other businesses (an official count listed 100 businesses were affected) as well.
It was then revealed that -- of the 78 people who were arrested that night -- 75 percent of them did not live in the city of Oakland.
Which leads The Shadow to ask -- WHY DID YOU COME HERE IF YOU HAD NOT INTEREST IN THIS CASE AND YOU DID NOT LIVE IN OAKLAND?
Oakland has a bad enough reputation without the violence and riots that occurred that night. It is shameful and embarrassing! But -- to their credit -- some of the looters did return some of the items that were looted -- but The Shadow would not be surprised if these people actuallhy lived in Oakland.
Mehserle is due to be sentenced later this Summer (the original date was August 6, but that has been postponed at the request of Mehserle's attorneys). This will be another period that riots could happen in Oakland.....if the sentence that the judge does not hand down is not satisfactory to the African-American community (Mehserle is facing a maximum sentence of 14 years). It is important that the Oakland community come together to prevent these outsiders from coming in and causing more trouble.
The Shadow will not offer an opinion on the verdict. But what he will say is that he was very disappointed with the reaction that occurred in the late night hours in Oakland. Hopefully, this can be avoided in the future and the community can come together for the common good.
Good night and good luck.
posted by The Shadow at 9:24 PM
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